page_title: Northern Hub
section_title: Infrastructure
hierarchical_section_title: Northern Hub / Infrastructure
caption_attribution_description: English: Ordsall Chord layout, Manchester
context_page_description: The Northern Hub is a rail programme in Northern England to improve and increase train services and reduce journey times between its major cities and towns, by electrifying lines and removing a major rail bottleneck in Manchester. It is predicted to stimulate economic growth in the region. The project has several elements but the prime objective is to eradicate the bottleneck in Manchester and allow trains to travel through the city at speed without stopping. The project was announced as the Manchester Hub in 2009. The project's steering partnership involves Network Rail, Deutsche Bahn, First TransPennine Express, Northern Rail, East Midlands Trains, CrossCountry, Freightliner, the Department for Transport, Transport for Greater Manchester and Merseytravel.
  Services from Liverpool to Leeds and beyond will be diverted from the Liverpool to Manchester line southern route, via Warrington Central and Manchester Piccadilly, to the more direct electrified Liverpool to Manchester northern route, via Newton-le-Willows and Manchester Victoria; this will provide a fast route to and through Manchester.
context_section_description: Northern Hub plans include:
  Piccadilly and Victoria stations linked by the Ordsall Chord
  Station improvements completed at Victoria which was rated as the worst station in the United Kingdom in 2009.
  New platforms at Piccadilly for trains from/to Oxford Road, enabling traffic from the north and west to access the south side.
  Passing loop between Roby and Huyton on the line from Liverpool to Manchester via Newton-le-Willows,
  Extra capacity on routes through the Pennines between Leeds, Huddersfield, Dewsbury and Manchester
  Passing loops at Chinley, Grindleford and Dore between Sheffield and Manchester
caption: A diagram showing the Ordsall Chord.
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